politicartoons | May. 10th, 2014

A group of ten European Union countries has agreed to introduce a financial transaction tax from 2016 onward, in an effort to curb speculation and claw back revenues after governments had to bail out banks. The nations — including economic heavyweights Germany, France, Italy and Spain — will initially tax only the trading of shares and some derivatives, according to a joint statement published Tuesday on the sidelines of a meeting of the 28-nation bloc’s finance ministers.

The levy’s scope won’t be as broad as supporters initially hoped, but the countries said they hope to reach agreement on a tax that would include trading in most financial products later on. The EU estimates a broad levy could yield some 30 billion euros ($42 billion) in additional annual tax revenues.